Sushant Mehan, Ph.D.

Water Resources Engineer



About me


I work at water resources engineering and hydro-informatics interface.

My research agenda includes advancing the understanding and physical representation of nutrients' fate and transport to manage water resources using the computing infrastructure.
I am also interested in exploring how interactions between climate and land management operations impact water quantity and quality.

My passion for working on water resources, precisely water quality, is driven by the idea that resolving water problems can solve much unseen unpredicted chaos in the ecosystem. I love to work as a problem solver on issues related to water sustainability.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Agricultural and Biological Engineering) - Aug 2018
    Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
    Dissertation Title: Impact of Changing Climate on Water Resources in the
    Western Lake Erie Basin Using SWAT
    (Read Here)


  • Master of Technology (Agricultural Engineering) - Aug 2014
    Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India
    Thesis Title: Studies on the Effect of Colored Mulches on Yield and
    Quality of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)
    (Read Here)


  • Bachelor of Technology (Agricultural Engineering)- Jul 2011
    Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India

Skills & Strengths


Skills

Watershed Modeling | Hydroinformatics | Water Policy | Water Rights | Water Education | Technical Writing


Strengths

Leadership | Project Management | Mentorship | Adaptability | Innovation | Affective Listener

Professional Society Affiliations


American Society of Agricultural
and Biological Engineers (ASABE)



American Geophysical
Union (AGU)


Soil Science Society of
America (SSSA)




Tau Beta Pi (TBP),
The Engineering Honor Society



Alpha Epsilon (AE) Honors Society,
Purdue University Agricultural and Biological Engineering Chapter

Invited Talks




  1. Mehan, S. (2023). Get Involved with ASABE YPC. Southeastern ASABE Regional Rally, March 25, 2023, and Midwestern Regional Rally, March 24, 2023. Virtual.

  2. Mehan, S. (2023). The State of Programing Language, R, in Water Resources Research. Inaugural seminar in a seminar series organized by ASABE NRES-21 (Hydrology) committee in 2023. February 3, 2023. Virtual.

  3. Mehan, S. (2022). Adaptation vs. Adoption: Face of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and SARS CoV-2. Joint Special Session organized by three international communities within ASABE: Association of Overseas Chinese Agricultural, Biological & Food Engineers (AOCABFE), African Network Group of ASABE (ANGASABE), and Association of Agricultural, Biological, and Food Engineers of Indian Origin (AABFEIO) at Annual International Meeting organized by American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers at Houston Texas from July 17 - 22, 2022. In-Person.

  4. Mehan, S. (2021). Data and Humans: A perspective of an Agrineer. Seminar series organized by University of Florida Biocomplexity group. January 19, 2021. Virtual.

  5. Mehan, S. (2020). Obtaining a Postdoc Position. A panel workshop sponsored by the Graduate Education Office of the College of Engineering at Purdue University. November 17, 2020. Virtual.

  6. Mehan, S. (2020). Role of science in the post-COVID-19 era. A two-day International Symposium at Gujranwala Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. May 29, 2020. Virtual

  7. Mehan, S. (2017). The Grad School vs. Industry. A group panel session organized by Purdue Chapter of Society of Women Engineers. September 10, 2017. In-Person.

  8. Mehan, S. (2017). Indian Water Resources under the Face of Climate Change: Issues and Remedial Measures. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India. November 22, 2017. In-Person.

  9. Mehan, S. (2017). Implications of Changing Climatic Conditions on Indian Water Resources: Future Potential in Water Resource Research. Water Technology Center, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Delhi, India. November 23, 2017. In-Person.

  10. Mehan, S. (2017). Keys to Higher Education Overseas. National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Sonipat, Haryana, India. November 21, 2017. In-Person.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Published Journal Articles

  1. Sharma, Y., Sidana, B. K., Kumar, S., Kaur, S., Sekhon, M. K., Mahal, A. K., and Mehan, S. (2023). Pre and Post Water Level Behaviour in Punjab: Impact Analysis with DiD Approach. Sustainability, 15(3), 2426.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032426

  2. Hoffman, I.R., Miller, K., Paul, G., Yimam, Y., Mehan, S., Dickey, J., Harter, T., and Kisekka, I. (2022). Modeling water and nitrogen dynamics from processing tomatoes under different management scenarios in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 43,
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2022.101195

  3. Kushwaha, N. L., Elbeltagi, A., Mehan, S., Malik, A., and Yousuf, A. (2022). Comparative study on morphometric analysis and RUSLE-based approaches for micro-watershed prioritization using remote sensing and GIS. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 15(7), 1-18.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-09837-2

  4. Acharya, B., Ahmmed, B., Chen, Y., Davison, J., Haygood, L., Hensley, R., Kumar, R., Lerback, J., Liu, H., Mehan, S., Mehana, M., Patil, S., Persaud, B., Sullivan, P., and URycki D. (2022). Hydrological Perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) Science. Earth and Space Science Open Archive (ESSOAr).
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EA002320

  5. Evenson, G., Osterholz, W. R., Shedekar, V. S., King, K., Mehan, S., and Kalcic, M. (2022). Representing soil health practice effects on soil properties and nutrient loss in a watershed‐scale hydrologic model. Journal of Environmental Quality.
    https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20338

  6. Kumar, M., Dogra, R., Narang, M., Singh, M., and Mehan, S. (2021). Development and Evaluation of Direct Paddy Seeder in Puddled Field. Sustainability, 13(5), 2745.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052745

  7. Schull, V. Z., Mehan, S., Gitau, M. W., Johnson, D. R., Singh, S., Sesmero, J. P., and Flanagan, D. C. (2021). Construction of Critical Periods for Water Resources Management and Their Application in the FEW Nexus. Water, 13(5), 718.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050718

  8. Schull, V. Z., Daher, B., Gitau, M. W., Mehan, S., and Flanagan, D. C. (2020). Analyzing FEW nexus modeling tools for water resources decision-making and management applications. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 119, 108-124.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbp.2019.10.011

  9. Mehan, S., Aggarwal, R., Gitau, M.W., Flanagan, D.C., and Frankenberger, J. (2019). Assessment of hydrology and nutrient losses in a changing climate in a subsurface-drained watershed.
    Science of the Total Environment, 688, 1236-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.314

  10. Kannan, N., Santhi, C., White, M.J., Mehan, S., Arnold, J.G., and Gassman, P.W. (2019). Some challenges in hydrologic model calibration for large-scale studies: A case study of SWAT Model application to MississippiAtchafalaya River Basin. Hydrology, 6(1), 17.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology6010017

  11. Mehan, S., Gitau, M.W., and Flanagan, D.C. (2019). Reliable future climatic projections for sustainable hydrometeorological assessments in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Water, 11(3), 581.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030581

  12. Gitau, M. W., Mehan, S., and Guo, T. (2018). Weather generator effectiveness in capturing climate extremes. Environmental Processes, 5(1), 153-165.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-018-0291-x

  13. Gitau, M.W., Mehan, S., and Guo, T. (2017). Weather generator utilization in climate impact studies: Implications for water resources modelling. European Water, 59(3), 69-75.
    Click and read it here

  14. Guo, T., Mehan, S., Gitau, M. W., Wang, Q., Kuczek, T., & Flanagan, D. C. (2018). Impact of number of realizations on the suitability of simulated weather data for hydrologic and environmental applications. Stochastic environmental research and risk assessment, 32(8), 2405-2421.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-017-1498-5

  15. Mehan, S., Neupane, R.P., and Kumar, S. (2017). Coupling of SUFI 2 and SWAT for improving the simulation of streamflow in an agricultural watershed of South Dakota. Hydrology Current Research, 8 (3).280
    https://doi:10.4172/2157-7587.1000280

  16. Neupane, R. P., Mehan, S., and Kumar, S. (2017). Use of geochemical tracers for estimating groundwater influxes to the Big Sioux River, eastern South Dakota, USA. Hydrogeology Journal, 25(6), 1647-1660.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-017-1597-x

  17. Mehan, S., Guo, T., Gitau, M.W., and Flanagan, D.C. (2017). Comparative study of different stochastic weather generators for long-term climate data simulation. Climate, 5(2), 26.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/cli5020026

  18. Mehan, S., Kannan, N., Neupane, R.P., McDaniel, R., and Kumar, S. (2016). Climate change impacts on the hydrological processes of a small agricultural watershed. Climate, 4(4), 56.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/cli4040056

  19. Mehan, S., Kaur, P., and Singh, M. (2014). Studies on effect of storage on quality of minimally processed baby corn. Journal of Food Processing & Technology, 5(11). 388
    https://doi: :10.4172/2157-7110.1000388


Book Chapters

  1. Mehan, S. and Eslamian, S. (2023). Movement of Water in Soil. Handbook of Irrigation Hydrology and Management: Irrigation Fundamentals, CRC Press, (Publication Date: 05/23/2023).
    International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-3672-5819-1.

  2. Mehan, S. (2020). Transformation of pedagogical skills for 21st century. In George, A. Education For Future – An Archive of Humanities, Science and Technology for Sustainable Development (pp 135-139).
    Media House Publications, Delhi.

  3. Srinivasulu, A., Femeena, P., Mehan, S., and Raj, C. (2019). Environmental Impacts of Bioenergy Crop Production and Benefits of Multifunctional Bioenergy Systems. Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage, pp. 195-217, Academic Press.

  4. Mehan, S. , and Singh, K.G. (2015). Use of Mulches in Soil Moisture Conservation: A Review. Best Management Practices for Drip Irrigated Crops, pp. 283 - 293, Apple Academic Press.
    International Standard Book Number-13:978-1-4987-1482-2


Published and Cited Datasets

  1. Mehan, S., and Gitau, M. (2019). Climate Time Series Analysis using R [Data set]. Purdue University Research Repository.
    https://doi.org/10.4231/R77H1GTX (859 views; 212 Downloads; 2 Citations as of 01/2023)

  2. Mehan, S., and Gitau, M. (2019). Climate Projections for the Western Lake Erie Basin for medium and high emission scenarios for hydrologic modeling assessment studies (Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan) [Data set]. Purdue University Research Repository.
    https://doi.org/10.4231/R7C53J3W (628 Views; 119 Downloads; 2 Citations as of 01/2023)

  3. Mehan, S., and Gitau, M. (2019). Climate Projection Data for 21st Century for the Western Lake Erie Basin (Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan) [Data set]. Purdue University Research Repository.
    https://doi.org/10.4231/R7GX48SF (611 Views; 121 Downloads; 2 Citations as of 01/2023)

  4. Mehan, S., and Gitau, M.W. (2019). Spatial-Temporal Climate Projection Data for 21st Century for the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) for Hydrologic Studies [Data set]. Purdue University Research Repository.
    https://doi.org/10.4231/R73R0R42 (575 Views; 121 Downloads; 2 Citations as of 01/2023)

Copyright@ Sushant Mehan